Reason #2: The brand's storied history. It was founded in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari as Scuderia Ferrari, which translates into "Ferrari Racing Stables." Pictured: Enzo Ferrari himself

PHOTO: Handout, Ferrari

Reason #3: They reach high speeds without realization. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. Pictured: The Ferrari 288 GTO, which was supposed to be a very vast rally car.

PHOTO: Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images

Reason #4: It's cool to drive/own/be near a Ferrari. Don't believe that? Try driving one, and count how many times you're stopped for photos. Pictured: The Ferrari 458 Speciale.

PHOTO: Handout, Ferrari

Reason #5: Saving the environment, or something like that. Ferrari unveiled a hybrid version of their 599 at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show called the "HY-KERS Concept". Ferrari's hybrid system adds more than 100 horsepower on top of the 599's 612 HP

PHOTO: Philippe Desmazes, AFP/Getty Images

Reason #6: Ferrari is going to make another hybrid. Known as the LaFerrari (and don't call it the Ferrari LaFerrari), it'll be hybrid-ized in the name of performance.

PHOTO: Handout, Ferrari

Reason #7: If the price is right, Ferrari will custom-build one for you. Pictured is the Ferrari SP-12 EC, a custom 458 Italia built for Eric Clapton.

PHOTO: Handout, Ferrari

Reason #8. The concepts inspired by passion. There is no better example than the Pininfarina P4/5.

PHOTO: David Grainger, National Post

Reason #9: Passion. What else would have inspired this knit Testarossa?

PHOTO: Bruno Vincent, Getty images

Imagine how warm this would be as a blanket.

PHOTO: Bruno Vincent, Getty Images

Reason #10: Styling. Motor Trend Classic placed the 250 GTO first on a list of the "Greatest Ferraris of all time." Deservedly so.

Reason #15: The 1964 Ferrari 250LM. It sold for $14.3 million at the recent Art of the Automobile auction.

PHOTO: RM Auctions, Sotheby's

Reason #16: The Ferrari Enzo. It's was one of the most expensive cars in the world, and still is. This particular example sold for €1,069,600 at the Villa Erba auction earlier this year.

PHOTO: Handout, RM Auctions

Reason #17: The vast array of colour choices. While the most popular colour choice for a Ferrari is still Rosso Corsa ("Racing Red"), the over 20 choices include colours like Metallic Brown, Metallic Khaki and Sky Blue. But who doesn't buy it in red?

PHOTO: Boris Roessler, AFP/Getty Images

Reason 18: Where the magic happens in Maranello, Italy.

PHOTO: Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images

Ferrari might introduce a GTO version of the F12 later this year.

PHOTO: Handout, Ferrari

But we're sure you can think of many, many more

By Staff, Driving

Originally published: September 22, 2010

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

It must be a Christmas miracle: It seems like Santa put our David Booth on the Nice List this year, because on Monday, he’ll get a rare chance to drive the sensuous and too-beautiful-to-be-real Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

Ferrari is the quintessential Italian automaker and is considered by many to be the purveyor of the world’s best and most beautiful supercars. Always in high demand for those who have the means and even those who don’t, Ferrari continues to creep into the dreams of die-hard gear heads and even the most casual of auto enthusiasts.

Ferrari has an extremely rich history and a bright future. We can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next. If we haven’t convinced you to fall in love with Ferrari by now, keep scrolling. Moving pictures with sound are more effective than still ones.

1. Jeremy Clarkson shows us they’re practical automobiles:

2. They sound absolutely barbaric. The Ferrari 288 GTO is an excellent vehicle to drive like a hooligan:

I’m not sure how Ferrari does it — the romantic in me hopes that there’s some crafty old Italian engineer named Giuseppe deep in Maranello’s catacombs (yet another romantic delusion to be sure) who bends exhaust systems by hand for just the right timbre — but the noise that comes out of those triple pipes is like no other on the planet.

3. Chris Harris gave us this epic comparison between the epic Ferrari F40 and F50:

4. Most importantly, they are works of art, just like this Ferrari 512 BBi: